Wednesday, January 26, 2011

So most of us have hadear infections from one time or the other. Being in the medical profession, I like to be a little more precise. Approximately 1 in 38 people or 7 million people in the USA will develop an ear infection (otitis media). Ear infections occur when a cold, throat infection or allergies result in fluid becoming trapped within the middle ear. This allows bacterial flora to flourish within the middle ear. In other cases, it is due to nasophargyngeal flora making their way up into the middle ear via the eustachian tube.

It is the second most commonly diagnosed illness in children after the common cold in the US. Statistics show that more than 3 out of 4 children have had at least oneear infection by the time they turn 3. It has been shown that there is an especially increased incidence of children developing ear infections during the winter months as well, likely secondary to the increased colds experienced. Some of the most common presenting symptoms of ear infections include earache, nausea, vomiting, malaise, drainage from the ear, irritability and many other symptoms.

Treatment is with either antibiotics if the cause is bacterial or ear drops. Unfortunately, if the infection is caused by a virus, antibiotics will not help. However, in children with persistent ear infections, some docs may recommend ear tube surgery which is may be quite costly. Here's where EarDoccomes in.EarDocuses vibrations in order to open up the Eustachian tube and allow the fluids to drain out thus, helping to resolve symptoms and the ear infection itself. My favorite part about it is that its non-invasive, it stays outside your body. I can understand children not wanting to take medications and parents having troubles keeping their little ones still for ear drops and this would be the perfect solution.

Well, this is my very first video review...Check it out to see what I thought of EarDoc and let me know what you think! :)

Disclaimer: The product/s mentioned above have been provided free of charge from the manufacturer or PR firm for the purposes of this review. Opinions expressed belong to Whirlwind of Surprises and are NOT influenced in any way. Please view my full disclosure.Until next time,Like what you see? Follow me on GFC and twitter (@CinnyBBS) to get the latest updates. Like us on facebook or join us through Network Blogs. Leave me a comment if you'd like me to follow back on any of these.

Progressohas a wonderfully delicious way to help us out with our new year's resolutions! With 40 flavors of Progresso Soup Light and each serving 100 calories or less, they are a great way to curb cravings while satisfying your palate. ;)

Progresso sent me several flavors to try out and on a cold winter night...true story by the way, since our apartment has central heating and its one of those old apartments where they barely ever turn the heat on and even when its on, its basically useless...lol, I got sidetracked. Anyways, on a cold winter night, I mentioned to my SO, "I can't believe how cold it is! Wouldn't hot soup be wonderful right now?" He goes, "We have soup??" I say, "Yep, Progresso sent us some to try." With that, we grabbed one of my favorites "New England Clam Chowder" and heated it up in a matter of minutes on the stovetop and hot, delicious, heaven, here we come! I think my favorite thing about these soups is that they are a maximum 100 calories per serving. Clam Chowder was 100 calories per serving and the can is 2 servings so a total of 200 calories but it was split between two people so not too bad, I'd say. I also liked how there was quite a bit of vegetables in the can and there were little chunks of clam. I wouldn't say its a lot but its not really a tiny amount either. By now, we've tried two other flavors and they have both been 70 calories per serving and both cans were also packed full of veggies.

Progresso has also brought back the "Souper You Debut" Contest that goes on from Jan 3-March 16. Three grand prize winners get a trip for 2 to NYC from May 20-22 with roundtrip airfare, 2 nights in an NYC hotel, a full makeover, a guided shopping spree and $1000 in spending money. How awesome is that? All you need to do is to visit Progresso on facebook and enter by writing a quick 200 character or less blurp on why you love their soups that contain 100 calories or less and why you deserve to go to NYC for a fashion overhaul! You must also submit a photo of yourself that reinforces your essay theme. Unfortunately, this contest is only for residents of the USA.

Progresso has also been gracious enough to offer a "Souper You" gift pack just like the one they sent me as a giveaway to my readers. It includes a VIP coupon for a free can of Progresso soup, a Yoga Mat and carrier bag, water bottle, set of aerobic bands, sport headband and wristbands. I am loving all these keep fit giveaway packages, food and fitness, what more could you ask for?!

Buy It: Visit any grocery store to pick up your Progresso Soup. Grab this coupon before you go for $1 off your purchase of 4 cans.Win It: One very lucky Whirlwind of Surprises reader is going to win a Progresso Souper You Prize Pack!To Enter (MANDATORY): This must be entered as ONE entry before the bonus entries count! I will check. PLEASE Leave a contact email in your entries if it is not found in your profile, if I can't contact you, you can't win.:)

1) Follow Whirlwind of Surprises on Google Friends Connect AND2) Which flavor of Progresso Soup would you most like to try?Bonus Entries -Please make sure you put 1 comment for each entry. e.g. If it says 2 entries, put 2 comments.

Like Whirlwind of Surprises on facebook. Please leave your first name and last initial-1 entry

Giveaway ends 11:59 pm EST on February 16, 2011. Open to the US. Winner will be drawn by a random number generator, posted on this blog and emailed. Winner must respond within 48 hours or a new winner will be drawn.

Disclaimer: The product/s mentioned above have been provided free of charge from Progresso via MyBlogSpark for the purposes of this review. Opinions expressed belong to Whirlwind of Surprises and are NOT influenced in any way. Please view my full disclosure.

Until next time,

Like what you see? Follow me on GFC and twitter (@CinnyBBS) to get the latest updates. Like us on facebook or join us through Network Blogs. Leave me a comment if you'd like me to follow back on any of these.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Have you heard of Jamie Broza?? He's the four-time winning composer/performer and he just came out with a new children's CD, called "I want a Dog!" It features Israeli superstar David Broza and its his first new children's album in five years. That's not all about Jamie Broza...if you don't know him as Jamie Broza, you may recognize his alter-ego, Jamie Lawrence, the name under which he does music for adults and various music stints writing music scores for the Berenstain Bears (I used to love the Berenstain Bears!), films for CBS, NBC, PBS, HBO and the Discovery Channel)

So, who doesn't want a dog!?! Virtually all kids do and even I did as a child. This album title and fun graphical elements were attractive to me even before I listened to the album! Although the CD title was "I want a Dog!", this CD was definitely not all dog. It had a great variety of songs and I think one of my favorite on the album is "New School". It even has a Spanish lesson within the song "Guatemala" if you want to start your kids off early with learning a little bit of a new language.

This album actually came about as a result of Jamie's family dog, Dusty, who they adopted from the North Shore Animal League America so 20% of the profits from this CD will go towards North Animal League America. What a great cause! Let me tell you, my baby was adopted and although I've gone through a lot with her already (Imagine this, 4 surgeries and she's only 6.5 months old!!), I don't regret a second of it. I think my adoption of her was one of the best things I've ever done in my life. Jamie hopes that this CD will encourage others to adopt rescue animals and I fully support this cause. My puppy is absolutely beautiful and thriving much better now than she would've at the domestically violent home she was born into. This gives her a chance at life that she deserves, as do all the other dogs at shelters and adoption centers. If you are considering getting a dog, consider adoption...it changes both your lives and it has been nothing but great since I've adopted her and she is such a vital part of my life that I wouldn't change anything. :)

Anyhow, back to the album... its 41 minutes of fun for kids aged 3-7. A great addition of fun and learning to that childrens' CD library. For more information on Jamie, checkout his website.

Buy It: Jamie Broza's "I Want a Dog!" CD ($12.99US) will be released March 15, 2011.Win It: One very lucky Whirlwind of Surprises reader is going to win a Jamie Broza's "I Want a Dog" CD set before the official release!To Enter (MANDATORY): This must be entered as ONE entry before the bonus entries count! I will check. PLEASE Leave a contact email in your entries if it is not found in your profile, if I can't contact you, you can't win.:)

Giveaway ends 11:59 pm EST on February 19, 2011. Open to US and Canada. Winner will be drawn by a random number generator, posted on this blog and emailed. Winner must respond within 48 hours or a new winner will be drawn.

Disclaimer: The product/s mentioned above have been provided free of charge from the manufacturer or PR company for the purposes of this review. Opinions expressed belong to Whirlwind of Surprises and are NOT influenced in any way. Please view my full disclosure.

Until next time,

Like what you see? Follow me on GFC and twitter (@CinnyBBS) to get the latest updates. Like us on facebook or join us through Network Blogs. Leave me a comment if you'd like me to follow back on any of these.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Yoplaithas come out with 2 new flavors of Yoplait Delight...Chocolate Eclair and Cherry Cheesecake!! Like the other Yoplait Delights, each serving only has 100 calories and 1.5g of fat. That's one low calorie dessert! I'd happily indulge myself any day in something so yummy and relatively low in calories. :)

There are other great flavors currently out including Chocolate Raspberry, Creme Caramel, Triple Berry Creme and Lemon Torte. With so many flavors, I had troubles deciding which one to try out! I really wanted to try Triple Berry Creme but the supermarket I was at yesterday was kind of limited in flavors. In the end, I chose Lemon Torte because that seemed to be the one I'd like out of the choices available. You know what? I was very pleasantly surprised...so delicious and yummy like a lemon meringue pie, that I couldn't believe it was only 100 calories in one serving. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and it was such a deliciously sweet indulgence...that I thought "Wow, what an appropriately named giveaway!"

Yoplait has been gracious enough to offer a very "Indulgent Escape" gift pack just like the one they sent me as a giveaway to my readers. It includes a Chocolate scented votive candle, an insulated tote, and an aromatherapy eye pillow. I've had a busy week and this is just the thing I need to slip me into sweet indulgence... :)

Buy It: Visit any grocery store to pick up your Yoplait Delight. Grab this coupon before you go for $0.50 off.Win It: One very lucky Whirlwind of Surprises reader is going to win a Yoplait Delight Indulgent Escape Prize Pack!To Enter (MANDATORY): This must be entered as ONE entry before the bonus entries count! I will check. PLEASE Leave a contact email in your entries if it is not found in your profile, if I can't contact you, you can't win.:)

1) Follow Whirlwind of Surprises on Google Friends Connect AND2) Which one of the two new flavors (Chocolate Eclair or Cherry Cheesecake) are you most excited to try?Bonus Entries -Please make sure you put 1 comment for each entry. e.g. If it says 2 entries, put 2 comments.

Like Whirlwind of Surprises on facebook. Please leave your first name and last initial-1 entry

Giveaway ends 11:59 pm EST on February 08, 2010. Open to US and Canada. Winner will be drawn by a random number generator, posted on this blog and emailed. Winner must respond within 48 hours or a new winner will be drawn.

Disclaimer: The product/s mentioned above have been provided free of charge from Yoplait via MyBlogSpark for the purposes of this review. Opinions expressed belong to Whirlwind of Surprises and are NOT influenced in any way. Please view my full disclosure.

Until next time,

Like what you see? Follow me on GFC and twitter (@CinnyBBS) to get the latest updates. Like us on facebook or join us through Network Blogs. Leave me a comment if you'd like me to follow back on any of these.

I looove bagels!! I always have, I love getting them from Timmies (Tim Horton's) or spreading cream cheese over them... but I stopped eating bagels in the past several years. I eat them once maybe every several months now. For one bagel, I mean one plain bagel, no toppings, nothing added to it...can already be over 350 calories! Add the cream cheese or bacon, egg and cheese as my other favorite option for bagels...that could easily be 600-700 calories! I'm not sure if you know but for an average activity woman, 2000 calories is the recommended daily intake but look here, I'm just at the breakfast bun and not even my drink or any additional fruit and I'm close to half my daily intake?! So much for trying to keep fit, huh?

Needless to say, I was really happy to be introduced to Thomas Bagel Thins Bagels. I have never tried them or heard of them before in my life but bagels that are only 110 calories? 1/3 of what I used to have and supposedly the same amazing taste, texture and shape? I'll take it!

They come in 4 flavors and yes, every single one is 110 calories! So, there's whole wheat, everything, plain and cinnamon raisin.

I tried the Everything Bagel. In my attempts to keep healthy, I chose the spinach dip as my topping instead of cream cheese...and that combination was absolutely delicious! It was so good, I couldn't stop at one bagel... Initially, my SO and I were going to split one as a quick snack but after that first one, we decided we didn't want to share another one and had one each. So, all in all, we had 1.5 bagels...working out to be about 165 calories worth of bagels each which is still less than one of my regular bagels.

Overall...The good: 110 calories/bagel!!The Bad: Well, they are bagel thins so well, you get the idea, they are a smaller portion than the bagels we're used to so it might not be enough for other people.

Until next time,

Disclaimer: I am a BzzAgent. The product/s mentioned above have been provided free of charge from the manufacturer or PR firm for the purposes of this review. Opinions expressed belong to Whirlwind of Surprises and are NOT influenced in any way.Like what you see? Follow me on GFC and twitter (@CinnyBBS) to get the latest updates. Like us on facebook or join us through Network Blogs. Leave me a comment if you'd like me to follow back on any of these

Featured Post

About Me

From the Big Apple to Minneapolis, Cinny is the mommy to JR and Baby Pom. When not working or studying full time, she can be found working on WOS or cuddling with her hubby and playing with her dogs. She is the also the aunt of 3 little nephews.